Among many, the concern is that Sammy Sosa is undergoing a Michael Jackson-esque makeover. He’s reportedly wearing colored contact lenses. Sadly, if Sammy Sosa has indeed been bleaching his skin for superficial reasons — he wouldn’t be alone.

Throughout the Caribbean and Africa, skin bleaching is a popular phenomenon. Products like Fair and White, So White, and Nadinola fly off the shelves throughout most Caribbean islands. Just recently in Jamaica, dancehall artist Lisa Hype defended the practice of skin bleaching and even celebrates the practice in her song Proud of Mi Bleaching. The song title alone speaks volumes, and is a mentality that I have a hard time understanding. But it’s real and it’s happening — black people around the world still seek to alter their natural beauty, often by dangerous means. Just this year reports surfaced of a black woman who underwent a questionable operation to change the color of her eyes from brown to blue. And despite the known dangers of skin bleaching — from permanent disfiguration to skin thinning to cancer — there are those who pledge undying loyalty to the practice. For more insight, check out this clip by Current TV about a Jamaican family of skin bleachers.

Sammy Sosa may not be deliberately lightening the color of his skin by chemical means — one photo can’t tell the whole story. Either way, he needs to stop whatever he’s doing that appears to be causing so much change and apparent damage to his skin color. I still want to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I hope he really isn’t using skin whiteners. But I also hope that this current outcry reaches the people out there who are risking long term health effects hoping to achieve a more light skinned appearance, and sends a direct message that the practice is sad, scary, stupid, and unnecessary.Queen Ifrica said it all better than I ever could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyngtpDsaOY

** edited November 10 at 10:39 p.m. CST — Well, Sammy’s admitted the truth during television interviews with both ESPN Deportes, and Univision. My suspicions were correct.

“”It’s a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some,” said the former slugger during the “Primer Impacto” program at the Univision Spanish network.

“It’s a cream that I have, that I use to soften [my skin], but has bleached me some. I’m not a racist, I live my life happily,” said a smiling Sosa during the interview.”

And he’s joking about marketing the product too. I would write more about this topic, but all of a sudden I have a mysterious headache. SMH.

I saw those pictures of him over the weekend and I literally gasped. I was a big Cubs fan (still am) when he was playing for Chicago, and I always wondered what he had been up to. I don’t know what is going on, but I feel like it’s all a part of some chicanery. I’m sorry, but if a skin rejuvenation treatment leaves your skin looking like that, then you need to leave it alone, pronto.

This is truly sad. Just seeing pictures like this and of the many other changes that many celebrities of color have went through to become more “appealing” in the public’s eyes makes me sad. It is not right, this is not what our children should be looking up to and admiring. Its just so sad.

I can perhaps understand the ideology and thought process behind the sort of behavior because of what I’ve been in the Latino community as well as what I’ve studied in my sociology classes, but those circumstances still do not lessen the shock I felt upon view the end result. I can’t believe someone would willingly take part in a “skin rejuvenation process” that would leave your skin looking like this. It’s an obvious lie to cover up the truth, the rampant colorism that pervades the Latino and Black community.

I thinks its one of the sadest storys black folks all over the world are goin through. Sosa should be honest at least cos u can tell u wants to look caucasian with his “green” eyes and super relaxed hair. I live in Germany and here that bleachin thing is common.
We have to start accept our beauty. Black is beautiful and it will always be.

The Caribbean and Africa? Why do you omit Asia, is the continent not black enough? No, but you are a Trini… Anyways I find that odd.
He wants to look young and being light is a consequence he’s willing to deal with.
You don’t understand the mentality?:S it’s pretty simple to me. It makes even more sense in Sammy Sosa’s case than in Jamaica. What makes even less sense to me is white ppl tanning themselves orange.
I’ve used bleaching cream (Nadinola).I liked it, for the record i used is as it was supposed to be used spot treatment on scars.

Hi Bella, I recently moved to Malaysia from Trinidad and it was shocking to me to see how rampant skin whitening is in Asia.
Most skincare products, for both men and women, contain a whitening agent. Even products that we are familiar with from the US have an added whitening agent for the Asian market. There is a perception here that their yellow undertone is unattractive and what is desirable is a “fairer, rosy complexion.”
Living here really opened my eyes…it’s not just Black people who experience self-hate as a result of centuries of brainwashing.

Sosa is a sad sad man. Were it not for the coloured contacts (I once saw a news report that featured a surgical procedure available in Panama to change your eye colour – maybe he should look into that too), and the permed hair, perhaps his story would be believable.

It’s rampant, RAMPANT in the Jamaican culture. Especially in the dancehall arena. Men and women alike are doing it. the concoctions used damage the skin so badly that these persons wear clothes to cover their entire bodies when they’re out in the sunlight. It’s not uncommon to see someone covered head to toe in dark clothing at midday here in Jamaica. The weather is scorching hot usually over 100 degrees and they’re covered as if it were sub-zero.

The products have a thinning effect on skin where it is susceptible to bruising very easily so they avoid direct sunlight at all times.

It’s not a new phenomena it’s sadly just a renewed one. It’s a reinforced behavior though and this is why it continues. I cannot speak about any other culture but my own. I have heard though of bleaching being present in Asian culture.

I am a dark skin black woman who USED to have vitiligo. This is skin bleaching right there — he looks so happy like, “I’ve finally made it” look. I’m Haitian as well and in the island of Hispanola skin bleaching is, unfortunately, a common thing esp. in the DR. I went to a dermatologist and got a creme for it — let me tell you hove completely devastating it was to start to lose my pigment. I will never speak ill of my color. I thank God for that extremely important lesson

Camille – you are correct, it was an oversight on my part to omit Asia. Many of the creams that are most popular in my home country of Trinidad are from India, and many of the most direct and unfortunate color issues I’ve heard about are within Indian families. So apologies for the oversight, I wrote this in the time of evening when my brain was becoming cloudy with sleep, and I drew from my own growing-up experiences (which were primarily affected by Caribbean colorism).

He is the epitome of a H.A.M. He looks like an overgrown version of Eddie Munster! This is the result of a “process” but trust that it was a deliberate one. The contacts and the oily-doily press and curl only add to the madness. Bless his heart..

Good Black Honey:
I hate to be the one who brings up the intersection of hair and skin color, but Sosa is an extreme example of why we must celebrate black and brown beauty in all shades and textures. A friend and I were talking about the Jackson family and how it seems that at the minimum they all seem to have a nose job. My friend stated that she could not imagine the internalized abuse that manifested itself in every one of them butchering themselves. What messages did Joe and Miss Katherine give them as children? I looked at my friend who was genuinely distressed by this and I thought of the messages I had been told as a child. You see, my friend went to the salon twice a week to have her straightened with a ceramic iron. Aren’t we given similar messages about our hair? As children don’t we see our parents oh and ah over light skin that often accompanies “good hair”.

We grow up being taught that dark skin isn’t beautiful and we are bombarded with that message everyday inside and outside our home. To make matters, worse we are told that straightening your hair is okay, but lightening your skin is unacceptable (You can’t do anything about your skin, but CAN fix your hair.)

It seems to me that based on the messages received Sosa, Lil’ Kim, the Jacksons are doing what is expected. I wonder if skin lightening wasn’t cost prohibitive, how many people of color would partake in it.

Bad Black Honey:
Ain’t that much damn skin rejuvenation in the world!!!

OMG you gotta know that tune had me bogling in my seat. Not heard that in YEARS!
On a serious note- I have never heard of this guy before but he looks like one DUPPY. Vitiligo- steriods- I’m just not buying it. Whatever hes been doing to himself he needs to STOP because he looks ridiculous and Lord only knows the damage he’s doing to his skin.

Oh, Sammy! You lied about the steroids and now you’re lying about “skin rejuvenation.” Stay brown, “brother”: even if you have no racial pride, you just look better with your natural skin, eyes, and hair.

Sammy’s an adult who is definitely no stranger to illegal and unwise substances. I’m more worried for his kids (assuming he has some). What message does it send when Dad is changing before your very eyes – and it’s neither natural nor medically necessary? Mom, what’s wrong with Daddy…..?

p.s. @Deena: “I have never heard of this guy before but he looks like one DUPPY.” *Snap*

Each culture promotes their own RACIAL hatreds. The spanish culture promotes racial hatred to the 9th level. I’ve seen it in Miami and PR & DR. If they have dark skinned people in their family they try to hide them. Its just like the Indian culture as well. There is deep hatered for the lower cast uneducated people who are also the darkest. The light skin Indians ack like gods and think allot about themselves. Its funny that everyone blames the White man for Racial Hatred however it existed everywhere before he even got there. Even in Africa there was racial or tribal hatred prior to the white man. It was the tribal hatred that started the trans-atlantic trade. The white man came to the cape of good hope and some tribes would sell their captured other tribe members to them. And what did they do after Africa got its freedom in the 70’s/80’s/90.s. they went back to the tribal hatreds and wars such as the Rowanda genocide. Racial hatred allows some to look down on others and feel good about themselves. It will never stop and will always be with man for it is his Nature.

Leaders or Followers. Sammy Sosa has a nerosis complex. Mentally he feels insecure, inferior and inhibited. Michael Jackson had the same nerosis. Many people in life feel the need to please the masses. They crave extreme attention, look in the mirror extensively, follow every fad and fashion and cling to every word of the spin doctors. Those people are insecure, have low self esteem and deep down are ashamed of themselves. This nerosis usually stems from an early childhood of abuse verbally, sexually or otherwise. Sammy If you need counceling I am here for you. Spend some hours on the couch and it will help.

He looks horrible. Like his face has a ton of the wrong shade of foundation plastered on. I had a good laugh at this photo though. He looks like an ashy puppet, like his face is made outta Play-Doh.

I still think that him doing this, with cream or whatever, was probably more motivated by his urge to have more clear & unblemished skin than lighter skin.

I’m from Chi & have seen him a few times up close. Dude has BAD skin. Craters, dark spots, bumps, you name it. Very craggy appearance.

And once, one of my girlfriends with really bad skin started some type of chemical peel to treat it & she lightened up a lot too, it wasn’t permanent though.

So we’ll see if this freakface fiasco of his continues or what, cause I don’t know why he would all of a sudden just jump up & start with this now. He could’ve been doing this years ago, back when he was really poplular, if being lighter was such a big deal to him.

I was also thinking it was deeply rooted in some childhood stuff. I feel blessed to be of a family where everyone is more or less the same shade of black so there was no discrimination or glorification within the family. And anyhow my mother was very conscious and Proud.

But I can imagine how hurtful and isolating it might be if your loved ones make you feel literally like the Black Sheep. Somethings you don’t get over.

True there were always tribal wars, but the whole white or light worship thing came with the European colonialist, them breeding with the “locals” and elevating their mixed blood light off spring over the full blood African, Asian, or Indian subjects.

You have to give them their props for doing such a good job at screwing us up. But watching that video on bleaching makes me think we’re just crazy anyhow. (lol)

Pobre Sammy. As an afro Puerto Rican I am so sad for him. I agree with some of the comments here that in Latino countries the lighter you are the better, especially if you have straight hair.

Tons of Latinos are addicted to creamy crack and Dominican blowouts. Plenty of my family members are. And there is still a hefty amount of the black=bad and white=successful attitude. Not so much in PR thankfully. But we occasionally get the “joke” of bettering the race by marrying someone light skinned. That joke needs to die out already! XP

In our Spanish TV all we see are “white” Latinos in Novelas, news, gameshows, etc. It is beyond rare to see dark skin Latinos like me. They are just starting to show up in commercials and TV shows. Its no wonder Sammy’s bleaching his skin.

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